Mother questions school in sexual assault case

Burton Speakman

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Shane Jameson, a 17-year-old Montgomery High School senior, was arrested Oct. 22 on two charges of indecency with a child/sexual contact with a child. He remains in the Montgomery County Jail on a $150,000.

He will appear at 1:30 p.m. today for a bond hearing in Suzanne Stovall's 221st District Court in the Montgomery County Courthouse.

The mother, who The Courier will not name to protect the identity of her son, said the Montgomery Independent School District continued to allow Jameson to come to Montgomery Elementary School for the early morning day care program for the first five weeks of this school year without any reason.

"He should not have been able to show up at the school for five weeks with no reason to be there without anyone saying anything to him," she said.

A school district spokesperson said the district is investigating why Jameson was able to continue coming to the day care program, and will provide answers to parents at the conclusion of the investigation.

Jameson was enrolled in a high school class that enabled its students to assist in the child care program during the 2003-04 school year. The child care program is open to Montgomery ISD students. However, the high school class stopped at the end of the school year in May and was not available this school year, according to school officials.

The early morning day care program operates for slightly more than an hour every morning for parents before their children are taken to schools within the district. The program does not operate during the summer, said school officials.

The child's mother alleges Jameson started fondling her son last year and the abuse continued during the five weeks Jameson came to the child care program this school year.

"They (Montgomery ISD) don't want to take any responsibility," the mother said. "I feel the school district was at fault."

It is not known why Jameson was still coming to the day care, said Babette Eikenberg, MISD executive director of Human Resources.

"We're currently conducting an internal investigation," she said. "We'll leave no stone unturned. I want folks to know we're going to find answers."

The new attorney for Jameson, Richard Moore, also did not know why Jameson continued to go to the early morning program. Moore took over Jameson's case this week.

The mother said the district is not being honest about the situation with parents.

She said she spoke with the assistant principal at Montgomery Elementary several hours before she called the Montgomery Police Department to see how the district would handle her complaint.

The Police Department had not been informed about the situation when the mother called with her complaints, she said.

Eikenberg said it is unclear who contacted the district first. Calls from the parent and the police department occurred within minutes of each other.

The first complaint against Jameson was made on Sept. 9, according to police. Jameson was told to no longer enter any Montgomery ISD building other than the high school, the child's mother said.

Police Chief Kenneth Hudgens said Jameson was warned but never charged with criminal trespassing.

The child care program is run directly by the district's assistant director of day care and indirectly by the Montgomery Elementary principal, Eikenberg said.

A letter was sent home with students who attended the child care program Wednesday. Prior to Wednesday, the district did not take attendance during the early morning program and does not know how many students attended each day, Eikenberg said.

The letter provided information about the alleged incidents and a list of phone numbers to call if parents believe their children may have been affected, she said.

Montgomery ISD previously had sent a letter home to parents Oct. 19 stating a new policy regarding the early morning care.

It stated, "Effective, Wednesday, October 13, 2004, adults must escort their child/children to early morning care and sign them in. This is for your child's protection and to let us know who is supposed to be in early morning care instead of wandering through the building."